Dave Smith as been announced as the new CEO of the ARLC. He was the CEO of Lloyd's international and moved to Australia to take up that position 9 years ago. You can see an interview with him in the link provided.

Hopefully the fact that he's Welsh and lived over in the UK might mean he can turn the Australian game to take a more sympathetic view towards international RL e.g. some funding and games for PNG and the Pacific Islands and changing the State of origin eligibilty rules so that players can both play state of origin and international football for some other country than Australia and geting the Aussie clubs to host the WCC every alternate year.

I'd have liked to have seen someone with a Rugby League background get the job rather than another anonymous "suit".

Too many of our administrators (in both hemispheres) are too far removed from the actual game. We now have another one to add to the collection.

Having said that, I hope he is the man for the job and can re-invigorate international football even though it's not technically his job to do it!

That's an argument that cuts both ways. A person with no club or state axe to grind can make better and more impartial decisions. I think it worked quite well in the RFL with the Richard Lewis appointment.

That's an argument that cuts both ways. A person with no club or state axe to grind can make better and more impartial decisions. I think it worked quite well in the RFL with the Richard Lewis appointment.

True I suppose, but at the same time Richard Lewis never struck me as having a passion for the game, rather a sense that he was just doing the job he was paid to do.

"Rugby League is rugby in the simplest form in the sense that it's about great defence, great tackling technique, good handling, good passing, catching and great kicking."

Passion is not always the best attribute when hard decisions have to be taken.

When Lewis took over the game was in a mess and leaking money like a sieve.

A disinterested administrator did what had to be done and he handed the game over in much better shape.

I'm not disputing what you say. I agree Richard Lewis did turn the game around financially and steadied the ship. Once the ship was steadied though, did he plot a successful new course and dedicate his time to taking the game forward? If so, why did he effectively become part-time and spend most of his time in his role with Sport England down in London?

"Rugby League is rugby in the simplest form in the sense that it's about great defence, great tackling technique, good handling, good passing, catching and great kicking."

The point is he has got pretty sound business credentials and the one thing the ARL need with all that influx of TV monies is someone like that, not from the squabbling, political backstabbing background that is RL at the moment. They also have a pretty sharp Salary Cap Supervisor who takes no prisoners as the Eels and other Clubs have found out!

I'd have liked to have seen someone with a Rugby League background get the job rather than another anonymous "suit".

The very real danger in getting someone from within the game is that they end up with someone who barely registers the existence of the international game, or even worse, someone whose horizons don't stretch any further than Sydney city limits.

I think this guy's worth going with, if he can look at the bigger picture, can map out the future for RL and has no political/personal enemies/obligations within the game.

Between the optimist & the pessimist
The difference is quite droll:
The optimist sees the doughnut,
The pessimist sees the hole.

At his press conference, he didn't recognise any of the players on a picture containing Johnathan Thurston, Wendell Sailor and Sam Thaiday. He also couldn't name the captain of the Kangaroos.

Watch this space - I'm not impressed with the ARL Commission so far.

I understand your concern but really its more important that he does the best job possible. It would perhaps be worse if he knew the players, their coaches etc, at least this way he won't have too many preconceptions and maybe feel obliged to favour certain people or clubs.

I understand your concern but really its more important that he does the best job possible. It would perhaps be worse if he knew the players, their coaches etc, at least this way he won't have too many preconceptions and maybe feel obliged to favour certain people or clubs.

I wonder how many RL players Richard Lewis could have identified, at the time when he was first approached for the RFL job.

Between the optimist & the pessimist
The difference is quite droll:
The optimist sees the doughnut,
The pessimist sees the hole.